God and? or? nor? Country - Christmas creche in plastic and internal lights; veterans memorial in road center

In the cold light of the last calendar day of 2014 we observe the permanent display in brick, metal and stone for the veterans memorial and the seasonal display of figures to represent a scene at the Bethlehem manger about 80 generations ago when the VIPs from the east arrived to behold the baby Jesus. For someone who has never seen either of these things, there is a lot to reflect upon: origins of these forms of memorializing, the undertaking of designing, funding, securing permissions and building, then maintaining and using the sites. For someone who sees the Christmas ensemble year after year, it is easy to glance briefly enough to identify what it is, but then go no further and study the meanings of the original language and society, much less the meanings over the centuries as the Bible meanings intersect with the World.

Spreading the wealth - Christmas gifting customs in 2014 rural Michigan, USA

So much material wealth - Christmas bags for families short of spending money

The area charity for distributing baby supplies, clothing and food holds a Christmas party each year. People willing to adopt one or more of the baby pantry children receive a wishlist of things for child  and parent(s). The purchases then are wrapped, labeled and assembled on the eve of the final decoration and food preparations of Friday. The Saturday from 10 to 2 p.m. the families show up for crafts, presents to pick up for their own collection under their Christmas tree, and tasty food.

a little library

Corner of Spruce and Sixth St. in Traverse City, MI 49684; the vicinity of Munson Hospital

Drive-through fast food for thinking - late summer 2014

During the pre-Industrial times, paper was made by hand and printing would be also by hand, possibly on the prepared skin of sheep or veel (vellum?). As a result books were of value for their scarcity, craftsmanship and ornamentation. The force of the argument or the vigor or the prose were secondary to all but those who could read. When paperbacks broke on the shores of mass literacy around the time of WWII the physical worth of a book was now less important in many instances that was the flow of the story or skillful mastery of words. Now we see steady increases in non-print books for screen reading on portable device or computer workstation. Yet even in late summer 2014 there is a space for a small library for passers by and curious drivers by.

The top-most text reads: Kids Creek     LittleFreeLibrary

The bottom-most (blue panel) text reads: Kids Creek Neighborhood Little Free Library, Learn more at www.tadl.org (traverse area district library), where the following story appears.

exurban still life - Walmart summer evening

Morning, noon or night the parking lot has a few dozen cars at the Superstore (grocery + general merchandise Walmart) in St. Johns, Michigan 48879. On this occasion about 30 minutes before sunset early in July, there was a pleasant westerly breeze and majestic cloudscapes on all sides. Such is the intersection of timeless meteorological beauty and the "everyday low prices" luring spenders through the worldwide retailer. On one side of the automatic doors the calculus of small profit margins and Least Cost decision-making rules. And on the other side of the doors the ancient world of ecosystems and planetary rotation with diurnal cycles of day alternating with night is what matters. Perhaps once upon a time the man-made world of transactions, production and distribution was not so distantly separated from the bigger world of life forces and geological time. But today and very likely tomorrow this gap will remain the same or grow even bigger.

celebratory parade of affirmation - Sikh religious communities of Michigan come to Lansing

Looking up from the bookstore/cafe at Lansing Community College one spring day in 2014 (4/26), the lines of people of all ages in ethnic clothing and ordinary clothing walked by en route to the state capitol building one Saturday morning. Generally there is not a lot of public visibility of Sikhs on the airwaves or public spaces, so this event was a good chance for those walking to affirm their place in the state; and a good chance for those passers-by to see them, as well.
     How might the role of public visibility differ in a society other than USA, where such public statements are allowed, routine and perhaps expected as a way of self-assertion and existential expression?

Voting culture - high school civics classroom podium (poster)

Rural high school classroom podium in history/civics class lists a series of consequential decisions that happened by a margin of one vote. Since the youngest tend to be the least politically involved; instead self-involved or friend-involved, it makes sense to dramatize the power of a single vote to decide the outcome of a proposed law.

flag avenues

Evening view of Mt. Rest Cemetery on May 30, 2014 in St. Johns, Michigan 48879

So far there are 570 flags at the city cemetery, “Mt. Rest,” in St. Johns, Michigan. Four times a year the poles and flags are unfurled: Memorial Day (not the 3 day weekend that varies its date each year, but rather the May 30 date of the traditional Civil War holiday), Independence Day on July 4, Labor Day (the first Monday of September), and Armistice Day (the World War I cessation of hostilities, November 11). This panorama stitches 2 photos to show the view south and east from the paved road that runs along the west side of the 1919 era mausoleum located at the center of the present grounds, but at its beginning it was near the eastmost edge of the burials made between the early years of the city in 1856 and 1919. Tombstones of that early time often were large, while those of the recent generations are normally more modest. Some burial grounds specify flush to the ground must be made to facilitate easy lawn mowing.

    What will future observers and inquiring minds think about the ceremonial handling of the national flags, the Memorial Day speech-making and frequent references to “freedom” [but whose? and under what terms] and “freedom is not free” (but rather has been paid for in the blood of the draftees and volunteers and career soldiers and sailors and aircrews).
--see also video clips from the remembrance ceremonies

--see also the July 2016 display:
Avenue of Flags - set of cemetery festooned with U.S. flags
[at Memorial Day and again at Independence Day the hundreds of flags are placed]

http://miserybay.usanethosting.com/indylite/archives/3460 =article
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lywSMljkiTU =slideshow of scenes